In the afternoon trade, ITC share price was down 4.68 per cent at Rs 319.90 (at 12.20 pm), followed by Godfrey Phillips (down 4 per cent at Rs 1504.40) and VST Industries (down 3.88 per cent at Rs 1,625.75)

Shares of tobacco and cigarette majors such as ITC and Godfrey Phillips were under pressure on Monday after a Finance Ministry panel headed by CEA Arvind Subramanian suggested 40 per cent goods and services tax (GST) rate on tobacco products.

However, the final GST rate would be decided by the GST Council, which will be headed by the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and have state Finance Ministers as its members.

The share price of ITC slid the most — 6.57 per cent to Rs 313.55, followed by Godfrey Phillips (down 4.90 per cent to Rs 1,490.25), VST Industries (down 2.85 per cent to Rs 1,643.10) and Golden Tobacco (down 0.56 per cent to Rs 44.35).

Overall, the panel proposed a three-tiered tax structure with a low rate of 12 per cent for essential items, a high rate of 40 per cent for luxury cars, tobacco products and aerated beverages, and a standard rate of 17-18 per cent, which would be applicable to most goods and all services. The standard rate is conditional on exemptions provided and tax rates on precious metals.

The government plans to roll out Goods and Services Tax (GST) from April 1.